


In Your Dreams

by ExcuseMeMissT



Category: Figure Skating RPF, Olympics RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Christmas AU, Confusion, F/M, Fiction, Fluff, Movie AU, Romance, Some angst, Weddings, While You Were Sleeping AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-08-26 16:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16685401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExcuseMeMissT/pseuds/ExcuseMeMissT
Summary: Scott Patrick Moir is a is a lonely fare token collector for the London Transit Authority. He has a secret crush on a beautiful daily commuter with the most dazzling green eyes, despite being strangers. He doesn’t know who she is, doesn’t know anything about her so when he saves her from pesky muggers in the dead of the night and takes the unconscious woman to the hospital, confusion ensues.ORThe While You Were Sleeping AU no one asked for but I wrote anyway because it’s one of my favorite Christmas movies.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to the While Your Were Sleeping AU. It's a great Christmas film and since said holiday is just around the corner I thought why not write it. I can't promise that it'll be all smiles like the film because I have all this chaotic energy I need to release in the form of angst so I apologize in advance. 
> 
> As always, if you're reading this Miss T and Mr. Moir, I'm so sorry.
> 
> If I've made any writing mistakes, feel free to correct me.
> 
> Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this bit is completely my own, not from the movie, and is inspired by Marie's CC anon on twitter. You can find Marie at @ birtuemoir 
> 
> I'm supposed to be studying but I've had this prologue written for a while now and thought to post it so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

****_May 9, 1989_

 

Alma Moir is a patient woman. Being a mother to three rambunctious boys teaches one a lot of patience and resilience. Although the ten-minute drive up County Road 20 and then a further fifteen minutes into the heart of London, where University Hospital is located, can be a quite difficult one when traveling with a toddler that’s just barely begun to string words into coherent sentences. She likes to think that she is a tolerable woman too; she’ll take almost anything you throw at her including the temper tantrums of a one and a half year old, currently buckled into his child seat in the back of Joe’s beat up truck, biting her ear off about not wanting to sit in said seat. It is definitely worth mentioning that said toddler has an inexplicable amount of energy and while most of the time, her child is particularly endearing, this afternoon he’s just not as easy to handle.

“Ma no belt, Ma owie!” He whines and pulls on the straps that go across his chest and snap into the clip. He fidgets a little more and his little booties, a gift from Grampa Mac, come sliding right off.

“Scott, honey it’s to keep you safe. You have to wear a belt when you sit in a car.”

She knows she’s made a mistake as soon as she’s uttered the word _car._

“Ma, want car! Want my car, car zoooooom.” Is it possible for a child to be able to reach such a high pitch?

“When we get home, honey. We have to go to the hospital first.” Alma says calmly, glancing at her boy in the rearview mirror. Her lips curve up into a smile at the wide grin plastered on his face and then it falters. He won’t be happy about the shots he’s about to receive today. No sir, not one bit. 

“Gooooooooooooo!” he shouts and bounces in his child seat.

Alma breathes in deeply and turns her focus back onto the road. It’s going to be a long day.

* * *

 

When Kate Virtue felt odd, sharp pains running through her swollen womb this fine, sweltering May morning, she dropped everything at work and rushed to the hospital immediately. Jim was at work too, tied up in something but he had told her he’d meet her there so she’d shoved some cash into Kevin’s hand, told him to watch after Jordan and order themselves dinner, and promptly sped off to University Hospital. She still had a full week before her daughter was meant to arrive, so her anxiety got the best of her as her heart rate soared. They hadn’t exactly planned to have another child; it had taken both her and Jim completely by surprise last fall when they'd discovered that she was pregnant for the fourth time and while Kate was grateful, she knew quite well that a new baby would be a lot of work. What with Kevin heading off to college in Texas this fall and with Casey almost graduating higher studies too, one could say that the Virtues were comfortable and ever so thankful but another child...

Dismissing the thought as rapidly as it had come, Kate waddles over to the receptionist and explains that she needs to see her OB-GYN immediately. The woman sitting behind the desk greets her with a forced smile and begins to pull out pages from all these drawers while loudly chewing her gum. Kate grimaces slightly and turns her gaze to the corridor by the side where she sees a kind woman who smiles at her as she walks by the reception, and she definitely doesn’t miss how the adorable and impish little boy clutches his mother’s hand and toddles after her. Kate runs her hands over her baby bump and smiles softly as she thinks about her daughter and the things she can't wait to do with her while the nurse directs her to sit outside Dr. Lynn’s room and fill in a few forms.

Her eyes wander to the little boy again, waiting by his mom chewing on the edge of her shirt as she fills out some forms of her own at the reception desk. He has tear streaks running down his flushed face and his tiny body racks slightly with the remnants of sobs. He meets her gaze and after a moment of careful consideration, he toddles over to her, bottom lip slightly wobbling as he introduces himself. “Hi, me Scott”

“Well, hello there, sweetheart, now why are you so upset?”

“Poke, me owie,” he says, pointing to his thighs.

Kate lifts him onto her lap and adjusts him to balance carefully on her knee so that his hands lightly rest on her very pregnant belly. She swipes away at the little bit of moisture under his eyes and pinches his soft cheeks, eliciting a breathy giggle from the precious child. He taps at her stomach then looks up at her quizzically and taps again. Her normally slumbering baby girl kicks right back, most energetically, and Kate is pleasantly taken aback by the strange interaction the child in her womb and the child seated on her knee are having.

“Scott, be gentle, there’s a baby in there.” The kind-faced woman, his mother, comes over and gently pries her son away. “I’m sorry if he’s been bothering you, he’s just received the last of his vaccines. I’m Alma, Alma Moir.”

“Kate Virtue, and don’t worry, your son is so charming. Him and my little girl here are having quite the conversation. It’s so strange that she’s kicking so much, she’s usually very calm,” Kate says as she shakes Alma's warm hand.

Neither of the two women has noticed how Scott has wrapped himself around Kate’s belly and is babbling away to the baby while they continue introducing themselves to each other and make small talk.

“Have you picked out a name yet?” Alma asks.

“Not really, no. Though my boys are very keen on Sam. What do you think of that, Scott? Shall I call the baby Sam?” She looks down and melts at the sight of the little boy pressing his nose to her middle. “Baby, baby,” he mumbles.

“Say Sam, Scott. Sam.” But he isn’t listening. Instead, Scott is tapping against the side of Kate’s belly and her baby is kicking right back in controlled intervals, almost as if the two are communicating in some sort of morse code.

“Mrs. Virtue? We’re ready for you.” a plump nurse dressed in drab scrubs sticks her head out of the triage room and calls for her.

“It was nice to meet you both, I’ll be seeing you around. Bye bye, Scott.” Kate waves the two of them goodbye and gets up gingerly to follow the nurse.

His lip starts quivering again and Scott begins to whimper softly as the woman disappears into the next room. He waves a tearful goodbye and turns his gaze back to his mother as he mutters “Baby, my baby,” while making tiny grabby hands in the direction of Kate's retreating form.

Alma’s heart breaks slightly as she hoists her littlest into her arms. “It’s alright Scotty, hush now, my love. Let’s get some ice cream, hmm?” she whispers into his ear as she softly strokes the back of his head. Scott melts into his mother’s embrace, sniffling dejectedly as buries his face into the crook of her neck. His fingers curl into the fabric of her crisp summer shirt, not clasping it too tightly, but just enough to reassure himself. She gives him one more pat on the back for reassurance and walks them both out of the hospital, hoping that one day they’ll run into Kate Virtue and her new daughter. Little does she know that that day may come sooner than she thinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it? I hope you did because I have no idea what I'm doing.  
> Leave a kudos, drop me a comment! 
> 
> Don't be shy, come say hi at my ko-fi [Fey](http://ko-fi.com/feyruh)
> 
> Come yell at me on twitter if you'd like, [@ExcuseMeMsTessa](https://twitter.com/ExcuseMeMsTessa)  
> Thank you for reading!


	2. One: This Is How It Started

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to everyone who commented, left kudos and read the prologue, your support means the world.  
> Slight warning, I've bent so many things to fit the storyline I have in mind and all of these plotlines are most certainly not true. We all know Scott loves and cherishes his family but for the sake of the story, let's roll with my universe. Everything that has been written is a pure construct of my imagination and bears no resemblance whatsoever to actual events.  
> And now without further ado, I present chapter one.  
> Enjoy, dear reader.

There are two things Scott Moir remembers fondly from his childhood. He just remembers them being warmer and not as drab, or grey or cold. 

He remembers whizzing across the ice at the Ilderton Skating Club after school every day, trying to even out his strokes so that he could go faster and faster only to be admonished by either his mother or his aunt. You see, his mum and her twin, Aunt Carol, both coached at the skating club so he never really got into any trouble. He remembers joshing around with his brothers and playing little league hockey till his shins burned with effort. He remembers his mother’s warm embrace as she’d bundle him and his two brothers onto the couch after a long day, hand them each a steaming mug of her signature hot chocolate with marshmallows, and whisper stories of their father. Alma would tell them that he was the bravest man she’d ever known and that he loved each of his sons limitlessly. Scott cherished these quiet conversations because he didn’t know his father very well; he’d only been three years old when he’d passed away. He always noticed that his mum's eyes, like his brothers’, would glaze over whenever they spoke about Joe but he didn’t understand why till much, much later. Till he lost his mother too. 

The other thing he remembers is dancing with a little girl who’d wear the biggest pair of baby blue mittens to the rink because her hands were always cold, and who had the brightest, greenest eyes he’d ever seen. She was the tiniest little thing but still matched him stroke for stroke that one time Auntie Carol made them dance together while he waited for Jackie. He remembers seeing her land an axel once and he was so jealous, he demanded that Charlie teach him how to perfectly execute one too and practiced until he could. His plan was to introduce himself to her the next day and show-off his new found skill but she never appeared at the rink that day. Or the next and nor the day after. Eventually, his memories about that little girl became hazy but the striking color of her green eyes was seared into his brain like a hot brand. 

Scott desperately misses the warmth and comfort of his mother’s hugs and her special hot chocolate this particularly freezing morning but he knows his day is about to get better as the seconds tick closer towards 8:05 AM. Any second now, the most beautiful brunette will breeze through his booth. The first time he’d seen her, there were no sparks unless you count the ones that flew when the train screeched to a stop behind them. She’d handed him a two dollar train token and rushed away to board the train. Handed, more like slipped it through the little slot in his booth. After that day, she’d come into his booth every morning, Monday through Friday, between 8:05 AM and 8:15 AM with the same two dollar train token and she’d sometimes make eye contact with him, sometimes smile at him and sometimes she’d be yelling on the phone, her face tinged pink with frustration. She was perfect.

They haven’t actually spoken but Scott knows in his heart that someday they will and that day sparks will fly. She also has the deepest, intense green eyes which remind him of that little girl so someday while he waits for her, he daydreams that  _that_  little girl grew into this charming woman and that when he builds up enough courage to introduce himself, they’ll hit it off, they’ll get married and he’ll finally be able to put a face on the woman who haunts his dreams of a house with white picket fences and two-point-five children. 

“Scott! Scott, Scott. Bonjour, Scott! I’m so glad to find you here, how are you this lovely morning?” Marie-France cheerfully greets him as he waits for his coffee order at the Tims close to work. It’s not so much a lovely morning as it is cold and grey. A morose morning if you will. 

“Bonjour, Marie. How’re you doing? How’s Billie-Rose?” 

“I’m good, she’s good. We’re all good. Hey listen, I'm recommending you for Employee of the Month.” she says as she orders. 

“Really? l didn't know there was an employee of the month.” 

“Supervisor Marie-France Dubreuil nominates Scoot Moir for Employee of the Month. Scott is never tardy, always works holidays, even if he has worked the previous holiday. Just because he worked Thanksgiving, Scott is willing to work Christmas too?” She peers from behind the dainty slip of paper she's holding.

“Yes, thank you. I’m not working Christmas, Marie.” Scott rolls his eyes as he grabs his cuppa’ joe and promptly turns to walk out.

“Did I mention the extra holiday pay? Look, Andrew is sick and Kaitlyn can't switch because she's got some big family thing. And l promised Billie and Patrice I'd be there for them this year. l know it isn’t fair, and l can't make you do it, but, Scott, you’re the only one—“

“Without family.” He sighs.

“So you will do it?” Marie puffs as she struggles to keep up with him. He sighs again deeply before nodding in agreement. She made a very compelling argument, Scott couldn’t exactly say no. 

“Yes! Thank you, ma cherie,” she enthusiastically kisses his cheeks and as she skips away, Scott wonders what it would be like to have a family again.

Cursing himself loudly, Scott blows air onto his gloveless hands and rubs them together vigorously to warm them up. His forgetful self had left them at the rink last night after coaching some kids and now he was genuinely afraid of frostbite overtaking his poor fingers. He’d started giving lessons at his home rink upon the insistence of his aunt and since he didn’t exactly have much to do otherwise, he figured spotting some extra cash working part-time and teaching little tykes to shoot goals and launch into axels wouldn’t hurt.

It's 8:20 AM; she’s late today so Scott is left to his muddled memories. 

It's Christmas morning and his brain chooses to taunt him with how none of his ice dance partnerships ever worked out because his partners always ended up growing too tall too fast. Leslie had that problem, Jackie got bored after a month and the list goes on. He is hit again with the memory of the little girl with the green eyes and how skating with her just felt so right until she left and then skating never felt the same. So he’d taken up hockey instead. He’d gotten pretty good at it too, despite his temper and all the risks associated with the sport. He dropped out of university and had had a very promising career ahead of him until right before being drafted into the NHL, when he got into a collision and suffered from a concussion so severe that the doctor sat him down and told him very plainly that if he were to get into even a minor accident again, he would be incapable of stepping onto the ice ever again. Period. And then his mother had died and Scott had spiraled into a pit of grief, pushing everyone away and wallowing in his sorrows, never wanting to crawl back out.

It took Marie and Patch and his cousin, Cara, a good while to bring him back from the dark hole he had descended into but by then it was a little too late. Though they were thick as thieves when they were younger, Scott and his brothers barely spoke anymore. Just the occasional call every now and then to wish his nieces and nephews on their birthdays or half-hearted holiday greetings. He doesn’t mean to be so distant but his brothers are happy with their families and their jobs, perfectly content and satisfied in their own world. He doesn’t want to impose or damper their happiness so he stays away, even though some days he longs to play with his nieces, letting Quinn dress him up for tea time, or playing bubble hockey with his nephews when they were little. Scott misses them the most, especially their cute calls of “Uncle Scott!”, and is so very grateful for the regular updates he gets from his sisters-in-law, Tessa and Nicole, bless their hearts.

Hence his miserable job at the London Transit Authority, where he works morning and late night shifts and coaches in between just to help out at the Ilderton Skating Club. It’s not much but it gets him by and leaves a little extra on the side.

Lady Green Eyes finally bustles in at 8:30 AM, hands stuffed deep into her fancy handbag while she huffs into her phone that is cradled between her ear and shoulder. “Jesus, Tessa Jane, it’s Christmas and Mom hasn’t seen you in forever. You’d better get your ass up here, your assignments and U of T can wait.” 

She drops her token into the booth and lingers for a moment, her phone dangerously close to slipping when Scott looks up.

“Hi, Merry Christmas.” She smiles and walks off to wait by the tracks.

“Ye-- Uh—"

 _Nice coat. Merry Christmas to you too. You´re beautiful. Will you marry me? l love you._ Are just some of the things he could’ve said to her, well maybe not the last three phrases, but instead his brain short-circuited and a few inhumane sounds are all that came out. He wants to smack himself.

The rest of the day passes by pretty monotonously with the usual sounds of tokens clinking and commuters whispering polite thank you’s and bye byes and an additional Merry Christmas as they come and go. Marie-France drops by and hands him a small box of her infamous, delectable sugar cookies that she tells him Billie-Rose helped decorate. Even Andrew and Katlyn come by and wish him a Merry Christmas and Scott can’t help but notice how the two purposely bump into each other as they stroll away, laughing, and how their hands linger, fingers reaching out to grab the others. He wants to be jealous and angry and sad but he can’t help but feel happy for his friends. At least they have someone to spend Christmas with.

He’s noticed that his fair lady hasn’t returned yet so he forces himself to be extra alert as the last few trains of the day screech to abrupt stops and unload their passengers. She finally steps off of the 10:50 express and is texting someone furiously, muttering angrily under her breath as she yanks off her ash grey gloves with her teeth. Scott thinks her phone screen might just shatter with the amount of force the woman is using to punch in every letter. 

It happens very quickly. One second she’s just stepped off the train and he’s making his way out of his booth, stopping to run a hand through his hair to look just a little presentable and the next second two bulking figures approach her and start to pull at her sleeves. 

“Hey, nice coat, pretty lady. Nice handbag too, I wonder what she’s got it in.” One of the creeps obnoxiously says to his accomplice.

“Look, l don’t want any trouble.” They’re backing her towards the tracks when her feet slide of the slippery edge and she tumbles down into the train lines with a shrill scream. 

“Shit!” Scott manages to make enough noise jiggling and struggling with the stupid door of his booth which alerts the muggers and they run off. He rushes to the ice-covered tracks and tries to help the woman of his dreams from being run over by the oncoming train. 

“Somebody help me, please! Are you breathing? Oh, god, you smell good! Please wake up. Please. Please. Oh, god.” He shouts to the night.

“Oh, god! Wake up!” Nothing.

“Miss? Miss! There’s a train coming and it’s fast.”

He pulls her out at the very last second and it’s something out of a movie sequence when the train chugs by behind them, its whistle bellowing sharply as it goes. He looks down at her unconscious figure, slumped against his chest and deep gash at her temple bleeding slowly into her hair. She looks ethereal when her face isn’t scrunched into a frown or a scowl. 

He takes a few seconds to process and then rushes her to the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a kudos, drop me a comment!
> 
> Don't be shy, come say hi at my ko-fi [Fey](http://ko-fi.com/feyruh)
> 
> Come yell at me on twitter if you'd like, [@ExcuseMeMsTessa](https://twitter.com/ExcuseMeMsTessa)  
> Thank you for reading!


	3. Two: This Is How It Unfolds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've reached chapter two! (I still don't know what I'm doing)  
> Please keep in mind that reality has been, and will continue to be, severely bent in this story. It's an AU and it is fiction and it bears absolutely no resemblance to real life.  
> Enjoy!

For as long as he can remember, Scott’s life has never truly been exciting or satisfying in the way other people describe their lives. For example, he would not use the words “invigorating experience” to describe his daily coffee order like he hears the classy women say when they pass through his token booth in the mornings with a Starbucks venti held delicately between their fingers. Although today, more specifically, tonight has definitely been one of the most exciting things that have happened to him in a long time. But not in a good context.

After having pulled her to a nearby bench and calling an ambulance, he rummages through her fancy branded handbag, looking for the woman's wallet or something to identify her with. He can hear how his mother would chide him against looking through a lady’s bag in his head but he doesn’t give much conscious thought to it. When he does pull out her MK wallet, her ID reads Jordan Virtue and a crumpled, faded photo slips out and he pockets it immediately; he can return it later if he remembers. And so that’s how Scott finds himself at University Hospital pacing outside room 306.

He tries to ask about her at the reception and then sees her being wheeled in on a gurney into the emergency ward so he tries to follow her. His heart pounds and his ears ring but a doctor stops him from going any further, and rather rudely too. “No, no, you can’t go in. Nope, you can’t go in there."

“No, no, you, you don’t understand.” Scott tries to explain, after all, no one should be alone after almost being mugged and rendered unconscious.

“Are you family? Family only.” The prissy doctor remarks and walks away with his nose up in the air.

“Oh, l was gonna marry her,” Scott whispers under his breath, watching them roll her away but it’s loud enough to be heard by a young, naive nurse that is nearby.

“Come on, come with me— over here. Let her hear your voice, hon.” The nurse whose scrubs read Violet leads him to the pretty lady’s, Jordan— to Jordan’s room and leaves in a flurry, grabbing her clipboard on her way out.

“Hi. Um— Everything is gonna be okay. l know it.” He thinks he should hold her hand to comfort her. There’s a deep gash in her forehead where it cut when she probably hit her head on the tracks. Anger courses through Scott when he remembers the halfwits who tried to rob her and that too on Christmas.

Outside the ICU room, an officer walks up to Violet, who’s silently been watching the tragic couple through the blinds, and taps her on the shoulder. “Excuse me, nurse, is that the man that saved her life?”

“Yup, and it gets even. He’s her fiancé!” She answers dreamily. That’s all the confirmation the sleep-deprived officer needs so he walks into the gloomy grey room to talk to this shady fiancé of one Miss Jordan Virtue.

“Excuse me, sir. I'm sorry, but l need to ask you a few questions.”

Scott barely gets any words out, suddenly intimidated by the detective towering over him and impatiently tapping his pen on his notepad, when a frail-looking doctor scampers in and ushers the policeman right out. He turns to Scott and introduces himself as Dr. Rubin but all Scott can concentrate on right now is the gaggle of people headed straight for the doorway. They gather into the room one by one and it turns into tumultuous disarray of voices climbing higher and higher, and fingers flying in every direction as they prowl onto poor Dr. Rubin.

“Where the hell is she? What happened?” The middle-aged man booms, his face tinged red with anger and exertion.

“Jim! Keep your voice down. Ooh, she’s so pale. My god, my little girl!” The woman with short platinum blond hair cries as she bustles towards Jordan’s bedside and immediately begins to stroke her hair, careful of the bandage that runs from the corner of her eyebrow to her hairline, covering the ugly pink scratch on her perfect porcelain skin. It must be her mother and Scott gets a strange feeling, like an itch in the back of his head, that he knows this sweet, distressed lady. Another younger, woman walks in with a dozing little girl cradled to her side, exhausted and loopy with sleep as she drools over her mother’s shoulder. Scott smiles endearingly at the winsome child who seems to be clutching a green fuzzy blanket with the word Poppy embroidered on the corner in elegant cursive. Lastly, two tall gentlemen come looming in and take their place behind their mother.

Scott retreats to a corner and tries to slip out silently before someone notices him and it’s too late. How on earth would he come up with a believable explanation as to why he’d saved and brought this unconscious woman to the hospital at midnight on Christmas.

“How did this happen? When will she wake up?” Mrs. Virtue sniffles.

_Yes, hello. My name is Scott and I work at the station and I saw your daughter being mugged and then saw her fall into the tracks and hit her head so I pulled her out and brought her to the hospital. Sorry to inconvenience you at such an hour. Merry Christmas?_

_It was the Canadian thing to do?_

“Well, she’s in a coma but her vital signs are strong and her brain waves are good. She will get through this and be on her way to a speedy recovery, as I was saying to Mr. Moir right here, there is nothing to worry about.” Dr. Rubin explains as he points to Scott.

“Um, I’m sorry but who is he?” The man with the ginger-colored hair looks to Scott with a quizzical expression, his eyebrows bunching together.

Nurse Violet chooses this exact moment to skip in and add some more flavor to the pot of confusion the room is currently stewing in. “He’s her fiancé,” she giggles and goes over to stand by Dr. Rubin, not realizing the awkward position she’s put Scott in.

All the eyes in the room turn towards Scott as the woman with the child quietly mutters to the red-haired man. “Jordan’s fiancé? When did that happen, Casey?”

“No, you don’t understand.” Scott tries but fails to get a word in because the room dissolves into another multi-way argument.

“She would’ve told us, right?” Mrs. Virtue turns to her husband who’s managed to acquire an even deeper shade of red coloring than when he first arrived.

“Maybe she was busy?”

“Too busy to tell her own mother she’s getting married?” Jim scoffs.

“You know, I bet Tessa knew,” Casey says and his wife, Myla—he heard their names being thrown around— elbows him in the ribs sharply.

A hush falls over the family and it's ironically deafening.

“Excuse me, Doctor. What is he doing in here?” the prissy doctor from the emergency ward storms into Jordan’s currently overflowing room and points accusingly at Scott and he is pleasantly surprised when the police officer from before comes to his rescue. 

“Hey, buddy. He saved her life. Jumped on the tracks and got her off just in time.”

“You saved her life? You jumped on the tracks?” Mrs. Virtue asks in a hushed voice.

“Yeah, yeah, but, l—“ Scott tries to explain his predicament for maybe the nth time tonight

“Doctor, it's supposed to be family only,” insists the fastidious resident.

"He is family. - He’s the fiancé, you idiot!” Casey growls.

“We haven’t seen her for a long time, she's always so busy so we didn't know. l always wanted her to find a nice man. I'm so glad she found you. Oh, both my girls were supposed to be here for Christmas but then this—“ The woman crumples into his shoulder and sobs.

On one hand, Scott knows he should tell the truth but on the other, he sees the flicker of hope that's begun to gleam in Kate’s eyes and he doesn’t have the heart to clear this colossal misconception after she squishes him into a long, warm hug. On the plus side, he could maybe charm Jordan while she sleeps…?

The entire ordeal couldn’t get I'm confusing when yet another woman bounds into the ICU, bundled up in a camel tone coat and properly layered up against the harsh London winter. She has an extremely soft looking scarf wrapped around her face but Scott can still see the striking green eyes peeking through.

“I’m here! I’m here, oh my god Mom, what happened?!” Her voice rings like a sweet Christmas melody and strikes a familiar tune in Scott’s heart. She looks exactly like her sister except where Jordan has a lithe, delicate build, her sister is all muscle and prowess. She has to be an athlete with that definition and Scott makes a point to ask her whether or not she figure skates-- wait what? He can't be sizing her up when he's knee-deep in this conundrum. 

“Oh Tess, you made it!” Kate rushes to her daughter and begins to fidget over her. 

So this was the Tessa Jane Jordan had been yelling at this morning. Scott feels a bit of annoyance develop for the sister as Jim and Casey fill her in on the terrible, terrible accident. He notices her gaze fall on him and straightens up for his oncoming mis-introduction.

“This is Jordan’s fiancé, Scott Moir, he saved her life. Don’t be rude Sam, say hi,” Casey and Myla usher her towards him. He sticks out his hand and she shakes it hesitantly, not leaving his eyes and staring deep into his soul.She narrows her eyes at him and he thinks she might just cut him with that sharp emerald gaze.

“Jordan’s fiancé, huh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what Kevin and Casey's wives' names are so I apologize.  
> I hope you liked it, I realize it's going really slowly right now but I promise the other chapters are coming!
> 
> Leave a kudos, drop me a comment!
> 
> Don't be shy, come say hi at my ko-fi [Fey](http://ko-fi.com/feyruh)
> 
> Come yell at me on twitter if you'd like, [@ExcuseMeMsTessa](https://twitter.com/ExcuseMeMsTessa)  
> Thank you for reading!


	4. Three: This Is When The Cat Comes In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, hello, I'm back. I am so sorry for this late update, this past week has been quite busy and I haven't had time to plan out my writing. Needless to say that this chapter is unedited so all mistakes are regrettably mine.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Jordan’s fiancé, huh?” she practically sneers at him and Scott’s life flashes before his eyes. He’s done for. He is about to be exposed by this petite woman, that’s what’s going to happen.

“When did you start seeing Jordan?”

“September17th,” he screws his eyes shut as he answers.

“Three months, that’s quick.” Her remark is sarcastic.

“You have no idea.”

“Tessa, honey what are you doing?” Kate pipes up from her conscious daughter’s side.

“What’s her favorite ice cream?”“Baskin-Robbins.”

“Favorite hockey team?” “The Leafs,” he’s unsure of that one, but they’d better be because otherwise, his lady love would have a severe character flaw.

“Ha, the Leafs! They’re everyone’s favorite.” She mutters to herself.

“Why are you asking him all these questions?” Casey remarks while prying a sleeping Poppy into his arms.

“That’s fast. That’s a fast engagement and Jordan never jumps—”

Dr. Rubin scuttles in and regrettably informs them that everyone would have to clear out and that only one person will be allowed to stay behind with Jordan according to hospital policy.

“I’ll stay, you guys go home and rest,” Tessa says immediately, having completely forgotten her interrogation.

“No, Tessa you’ve just come back from Toronto, you must be exhausted. I’ll stay with her.” Kate admonishes her youngest child, weariness clouding her eyes. 

“Let her stay Mom, it’s the least she can do, seeing as she’s never around.” The other brother, Kevin whispers. If he was trying to be quiet, he had failed and Scott could feel the awkward tension building slowly in the room. He hadn’t missed the way Tessa’s eyes, similar to her sister’s but so very different, had flickered with the pain of her brother’s words. After a little more coaxing, Kate agrees to the arrangement and then insists on Scott joining them for Boxing day breakfast. Again, he feels helpless and gives in to her feeble request rather easily. 

And so that’s how Scott finds himself seated in the Virtue living room on the day after Christmas, stuffed full of Kate’s delicious blueberry pancakes and now nurses a cup of leftover eggnog as the family goes around exchanging some remaining presents, as they hadn’t been able to do so last night. He feels somewhat responsible and guilty for ruining Christmas night for the Virtues and so when Scott tries to apologize, Kate shuts him up with a stern glare as she wrangles Poppy into her lap and helps her unwrap the last of her gifts without making too much of a mess.

“Ooh, it’s a tutu, Grandmama! Now I can be a ballerina like Aunt T!” The child croons.

“Aunt Tessa isn’t a ballerina anymore, Pops. We talked about this.” Her father whispers to her. Scott notices how another awkward hush falls over the family and then Kate smiles and reassures her grandchild as though nothing is wrong in the world. “You’ll make a beautiful ballerina, Poppy. Now go have your mom help you pack away your other presents. Scott, come with me, please.”

Scott follows her into the kitchen and is confused when he sees her pulling out food containers and pouring coffee into a thermos.

“I’m sorry about that, Scott. Tessa is… Well, she tends to keep to herself and…” she hesitates and is visibly distressed. She scuffles around the counters a bit more and places the boxes and flask into a flowery market bag that she hands to Scott.

“Do me a favor and take these to the hospital for her, would you? God knows that girl needs her coffee in the mornings and I know you want to see Jordan. Oh and tell her to come home, she’s not responding to my texts so her phone must’ve died. Thank you so much, sweetheart.” She says as she promptly sends him on his way.

* * *

 

At the hospital, Scott walks in on a precious sight. Tessa had somehow dragged the stark white sofa all the way over to Jordan’s bed and is slumbering away to the gentle humming and whirring of the clinical equipment, covered only by her coat and her hand holding her sister’s in a fierce grip. He doesn’t want to wake her up because she looks so very peaceful— nothing like the menacing, protective little sister he’d briefly met last night—but he knows he has to because she probably hasn’t eaten anything since.

She rouses from the gentle shakes he gives her shoulder and glares at him. She grumbles as she sits up and graciously accepts the thermos full of coffee he’s holding out to her half-awake form.

“Thank you,” she rasps after one, two, three gulps.

“It’s nothing. Um, Kate said to send you home so ah, I can call you a cab and help you with your bags. I’ll stay with Jordan.” He sheepishly says as she drains the last of the coffee and tames her hair into a neat bun on the top of her head. Well, she tries.

“I don’t think— I don’t want to go home just yet,” Tessa replies in a quiet voice, reaching out for the food boxes in his hands. She makes room for him on the couch and taps the free space, silently beckoning him to sit. Scott hesitantly settles down beside her when Tessaspeaks again

“Sorry about all this”— she gestures to herself— “Um, l guess l don’t remember meeting you. Jordan’s never mentioned you either and we tend to tell each other everything so I’m terribly sorry about earlier.”

“Well, it’s probably because we’ve never met. It’s alright, I understand— you were just being protective. And ah, we got together very recently too, um it happened very quickly.”

“Oh yeah? Tell me how you met, I want to know everything.” She says around a mouthful of pancakes, maple syrup dripping down the corner of her mouth. He itches to wipe it off with his thumb and them promptly pinches himself. _Focus, Scott. She’s your fiancee’s, but not really your fiancee, sister!_

“Oh you know, at this coffee place she comes to all the time. I work at the Transit Authority and so she usually goes through my booth and then we started talking and meeting up at that coffee place and so yeah, we just clicked, you know.” His hands become clammy as he lies through his teeth.

She nods along to his story and then cooly drops the fact that Jordan doesn’t like coffee.

_You’ve been caught, quickly say something. Make eye contact._

He looks into her mesmerizing, dark green eyes and brushes off the little slip with another lie. “Obviously Jordan doesn’t like coffee, I know that. She always orders this big slice of double chocolate cake. It’s very good actually.”

Before Tessa can reply, a wiry wisp of a man stomps into the room holding an office box filled to the brim with files and haphazard papers, mild panic set in his eyes and purple bruising beneath them. “Mr. Moir? Are you Mr. Moir, Ms. Virtue’s husband? Here are her files from the company, please take them. Yes, please and tell her that I quit. Tell her that Colin quit!” And with a dramatic flare, he turns on his heel and storms out of the room.

Scott is left gaping at the man who’d just shoved a surprisingly heavy box into his reluctant arms and looks down to read the word ‘attorney’ next to Jordan’s name and the company logo on top. He sends a silent prayer of thanks to whoever is listening and turns to Tessa who in the meantime, had packed up her things and is preparing to go home. She looks exhausted and Scott feels bad for being glad that she’s leaving— this way he can dig through Jordan’s things and gather some more information on her if he is to keep up this facade till she wakes up.

“I can take those home too if you’d like.” She says but he’s already shaking his head and pulling out his phone to call her a taxi. “I’ve got it, thank you. I’ll drop them off at her place when Kate comes by later. Your cab is outside, T. Stay safe,” she stares at him for a moment, locks her eyes with his at the nickname he’d just given her as if they’ve known each other for forever. Then she breaks their trance and leaves.

 

* * *

As soon as she leaves, Scott rips the contents of the box apart and analyzes them, scavenging for any piece of information he can use— he finds old case files, an old pager, a spare key and a paper bag with one can of cat food. _So she’s a successful lawyer with a cat?_

_Oh my gosh, she has a cat!_

Kate comes in with Jade and Kevin’s wife, Myla, in the afternoon and so he heads to Jordan’s flat because if he’s going to mess with her family, he owes it to her to at least feed her cat. He walks to her apartment complex after his afternoon work shift, marveling at how close she’s always been, and breezes through the security gate by flashing her spare key. She owns the corner apartment with a lovely view of the city and muted teal walls. He notices that the walls are littered with an alarming number of photo frames featuring mostly Jordan and Kate, with her brothers occasionally making an appearance. He’ll look into the pictures after, he’s gotta feed that cat first.

“Kitty? Come here, mealtime. Kitty, kitty, kitty? Food,”

“Come here. Come on, mittens. Where are you—“

He pushes open the kitchen door and hears a thud from behind followed by a yelp of pain. “Oh, I'm so sorry! Tessa?” 

She stands stunned, holding her fingers to her forehead and rubbing the sore spot with her face scrunched up into an irritated expression.

“I'll get you some ice. I'm sorry, l wasn’t expecting anybody.” He rushes past her and blindly reaches into the freezer compartment to pull out an ice pack. He tries to hold it to her head but she pushes him away and snatches the cold compress out of hands.

“Hey, how’d you get in here?”

“Uh... key? You know, to feed the cat.” He doesn’t turn around when he answers.

“Jordan doesn’t have a cat.” Tessa deadpans.

Just then sweet little mittens stroll into the kitchen with her tail held high, mewling in annoyance. “Hello, Fluffy! You must be so hungry.” He grabs the grayish white Persian mix and goes searching for her food tray when the phone rings.

“Are you gonna get that?” Tessa asks incredulously.

“Uh, no, I'm, I'm gonna let the machine get it.”

She rolls her eyes as she reaches for the phone to answer its incessant ringing. “it's for you, Mr. Moir.”

“Hello,” he nervously answers, bullets of sweet forming by his temples as he listens to the call. “Okay. Bye-bye. Um, that was the hospital. They said they need friends and family to come down and give blood.”

“Let's go together.” She smiles at him, inching away from Fluffy who has been trying hard to get Tessa to pick her up, weaving in-between her legs and mewling at her.

He lets out a nervous chuckle as he ducks through Jordan’s flat and follows her to the hospital, but not before noticing a rather familiar picture mounted on the corridor wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter!  
> Leave a kudos, drop me a comment!
> 
> Don't be shy, come say hi at my ko-fi [Fey](http://ko-fi.com/feyruh)
> 
> Come yell at me on twitter if you'd like, [@ExcuseMeMsTessa](https://twitter.com/ExcuseMeMsTessa)  
> Thank you for reading!


	5. Four: This Is When He Realizes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter kinda ran away from me, I don’t exactly know what happened. For those of you who have watched the film, I’m sorry for the messy plot but as I said before, I will be changing the storyline in some places to better fit VirtueMoir.
> 
> Chapter Warning: prepare for copious amounts of Poppy Virtue

Scott waits patiently for Kate and Myla to take over as his watch over Jordan is just coming to an end. He’s scrolling through his phone, swiping through the latest Christmas pictures of his nieces and nephews that Nicole and Tessa (he’d startled himself when he’d realized) had sent him when Ditzy Nurse Violet makes an appearance. She coos at Scott as she checks Jordan’s vital readings and adjusts her drip, hovering about her patient and fluffing her pillows. “You should talk to her, it could help her wake up and reassures her too, to hear the voice of a loved one. Y’all two are just so cute.”

And with that, she walks out and leaves Scott to ponder her words. He gazes upon Jordan’s sleeping figure; she has a muted blue hospital blanket draped over her frame, her chest rising and falling slowly with gentle breaths. Her skin holds a healthy flush despite her condition, not like the porcelain paleness of her sister. Jordan’s mouth is a rosy pink and rests in a pursed pout, unlike soft smile that tugs at Tessa’s mouth when she thinks no one’s watching. Scott thinks she looks like she’s ready to walk into court and demolish the opposition with the pointed expression that adorns her face.

“I bet you’re a great lawyer, I mean, I would not want to be against you because I’m pretty sure they always lose. I went through some of your stuff from your office, some of your case files, I hope you don’t mind, I just want to get to know you. Seeing as we’re engaged and all. Do you believe in love at first sight? Nah, l bet you don’t. You’re probably too sensible for that. Or have you ever like seen somebody and— and you just know that they’re the one you want to grow old with.”

It’s soothing, talking to her, so he carries on.

“I’m sorry for this mess I’ve created. You have a lovely family and they’re such good people. Your sister cares about you a lot but I think she might figure me out. She has green eyes like yours, but I don’t know why I’m telling you that, you probably already know. They’re different than yours though, more… I don’t know more tainted with something. She looks like she’s been through a lot and the fact that you two are very close and she doesn’t have anyone to talk too while you’re, uh, while you’re asleep, it makes me feel like it's my fault and makes me feel even worse about lying.” He rambles.

He’s a sad, sappy romantic and he tells her unconscious form this because he knows she’s not going to respond. Sometimes, one just needs a person to listen, or in his case, the woman of his dreams in a coma.

“I don’t know what kind of music you like so I’ll just sing you one of my favorite songs.” 

He clears his throat as he recalls the lyrics and then begins to sing them off-key to Jordan’s sleeping form.

_“Hey pretty lady why don't you give me a sign_

_I'd give anything to make you mine o' mine_

_I'll do your biddin' and be at your beck and call_

_I've never seen anyone lookin' so fine_

_Man I got to have her she's a one of a kind_

_I'm going once, I'm goin' twice, I’m—“_

As he serenades her, he swears that a corner of her mouth twitches upwards in barely a hint of a smile. He’s only just able to catch it when Poppy comes running in through the doors, clad in a lemon yellow puffer jacket to protect her against the cold. She clings to his legs and beings to rattle off the day's news in excited chatter. “Uncle Cot! Mommy said that we’re here to watch Auntie Jo. Are you going to stay? Auntie Tessie is coming too!”

He lifts the sweet child up into his arms and marvels at how light she is. Her mother walks in and pries her away to hand her a snack and a juice box. “Tessa’s on her way, Scott, she’s got a few things she needs you to drop at Jordan’s place,” Myla says with a guarded expression. Kate walks in behind her and pulls him into a tight hug as she greets him handing him a small, sweet pastry. “Have a snack, dear. Tessa will be here soon and then you can go home and rest for a bit.”

He grabs the pastry out of her hands, grateful as ever, and plops the entire thing into his mouth, wiping off a bit of chocolate frosting and dabbing it onto Poppy’s nose. The little girl jingles with laughter and rubs her nose again his in an attempt to get rid of the sugary glaze. He keeps the child busy by fiddling with her and his form relaxes as he coaxes the boisterous giggles from Jordan’s niece. He loves the way she calls him Uncle Cot and he thinks that she might be his favorite Virtue so far, right after a certain green-eyed woman.

Tessa jostles into her sister’s hospital room carrying a rather large Saffron Road bag filled to the brim with clothes. She sets it down beside him, meeting his eyes in a silent greeting as Poppy wriggles out of his grasp and reaches for her aunt, tugging at her coat and wanting to be picked up. He lets the Virtue women mingle and talk amongst themselves as he slips out with a quiet goodbye.

He takes the train over to Jordan’s place from the hospital, stopping to chat with Andrew and running into Marie-France as well. At her apartment, after he sets down the surprisingly heavy carrier on the hall table, he feeds the cat and changes her litter pausing to stroke her soft fur when she rubs her head against his hands. He makes his way around Jordan’s apartment, cleaning up here and there, browsing her bookshelf full of age-old classics with broken spines indicating that they’ve been read multiple times throughout the years. He wanders over to her picture wall where a multitude of frames have been mounted. Familiar faces he’s come to know well over the past few days look back at him; there’s a photo of Jordan and all her siblings in one frame against a warm orange background. There’s wedding photos of her brothers, some super cute baby shots of Poppy and a graduation picture too. The ones he finds most interesting are those of Jordan and Tessa together; there’s one with two of them clad in a jean crop top and white shorts where they almost look like twins, there’s one of Tessa against a French backdrop, another of Tessa standing on pointe and in then in a stretch. And then, as he nears the end of the hall, there’s a Lucan’s Skating Camp group picture dated back to 1997. He immediately finds his boyish face, twisted in annoyance and then his eyes drift over to Jordan, easily recognizable at the edge of the group with her hands on her hips. Scott roves over the aged frame once more and that’s when he sees _her._

At the very middle of the bottom row is a small, sheepishly smiling girl, her hands covered by large baby blue mittens. He knows her, he skated with her— she’s that little girl with the soulful green eyes from all those years ago. A strange weight settles in the pit of his stomach as he reads the label etched in the wood.

_Tessa (middle) and Jordan (far left) at the Lucan Summer Skating Camp, 1997_

His heart drops so far down and then pops back up again. She’s Tessa. Tessa Virtue is the girl-woman who’s been haunting his memories for a long, long time. Tessa, who he skated with once and he knew his purpose in life. Tessa, his fake fiancee’s sister.

His brief moment of apprehension is interrupted by rapt knocking on the door which sounds awfully impatient. _What if it’s Tess?_  

His thoughts scramble as he rushes to the door and peers to the peephole ultimately slumping against it in relief because it’s only Myla.

“Scott, you in there? Kate sent for Jordan’s pillows, she said that the hospital ones weren’t fluffy enough. Scott?” she calls from behind the still shut door.

He opens the door after struggling with the keys and flashes Myla a smirk, who has a sleeping Poppy perched on her hip. She sets her daughter down on a nearby couch and then ushers him into the kitchen.

“Scott, there’s something you should know. I didn’t come here for any pillows.” She says.

“What?” He starts to pull mugs out of a cabinet nearby.

“Well, just before we came into Jordan’s room I heard you, l was outside the door.”

“l know the truth.” She says after a pause.

“Sorry, Myla. You know, you do— You don’t have to worry, ‘cause I'm gonna tell them everything.” He almost drops the mugs as he hastens to explain himself.

“Don’t tell them a thing. Remember the day you said that you’d never do anything to hurt the family?” she warns.

“Yeah?” he gapes at her.

“Well, since they met you, they figure they have Jordan back. And Tessa as well. Now, if you tell them the truth, eh, it’ll take them away again and would probably break Kate’s heart. Both her girls have been so distant ever since the thing with Tessa’s legs, she’s just happy to have them around again, despite Jordan’s state.” Myla smiles at him, hope shining in her eyes.

“They need you, Scott. Just like you need them. Now, look, l know you’re a good guy. And l know you’ll do the right thing.”

“Thank you.” Is all he can muster.

“Mommy…” A sleep-laden voice calls from the living room.

“I’ll leave you to it,” and with that, Myla leaves with her child in tow and Scott feels a headache coming on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Myla is this story's Saul. I still don't know the real names of Casey and Kevin's wives' so if you'd like to correct me, please feel free.
> 
> The song Scott sings to Jordan is Sold by John Micheal Montgomery and you might recognize it from an interview him and Tessa did after the Olympics where they both sing along to it and Scott's wearing this ridiculous red cowboy hat.
> 
> Leave a kudos, drop me a comment!
> 
> Don't be shy, come say hi at my ko-fi [Fey](http://ko-fi.com/feyruh)
> 
> Come yell at me on twitter if you'd like, [@ExcuseMeMsTessa](https://twitter.com/ExcuseMeMsTessa)  
> Thank you for reading!


	6. Five: This Is When He Falls In Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is entirely my own, the slipping on the ice scene from the movie has been transformed into this gigantic update so enjoy.  
> I know it kinda jumps from the last chapter but I honestly could not come up with a transition I agreed with.

It’s New Year’s Day and Scott had asked Cara for the keys to his family rink, pounding on her door in earnest at an ungodly hour in the morning. She’d groaned and grumbled as she’d handed the set over, explaining to him that the small one was for the inner doors and the one with the purple cap was for the changing rooms in the left wing and— “I know, I know, Cara, thanks a bunch!” He’d whispered because everyone was still passed out and kissed her cheek in gratitude before he left. He’d invited Tessa to skate with him on a whim after having dropped her home last night from the Virtues’ New Years get together. It was a modest gathering with a proper dinner table and flutes of champagne, a stark difference to the Moirs’ New Years parties he’d grown up with where they’d be pot roast and mashed potatoes and baked goods floating all over the house. There’d be children running in the halls and playing with their brand new Christmas gifts and babies squalling because of all the racket. His brothers would kiss their wives when the clock struck midnight and he would either kiss his mother’s forehead or wrangle in his nearest niece and plant a wet raspberry upon her cheek.

He’s got some reminiscent tears floating in his eyes as the fresh wave of memories crashes into him and has to hastily wipe them away when he pulls into Tessa’s driveway where she’s waiting for him, bundled up nice and tight, against the cold Canadian winter with a scarf pulled over her face.

“Morning,” she says, grabbing the almond milk cappuccino out of his hands as she buckles in, pulls her scarf hastily off and away from her face, and takes a long sip. She looks fresh, bare-faced and pink-cheeked except for the fact that her expression is pulled into one of extreme annoyance. He knows she hates waking up in the mornings which is why he’d suggested time as late as possible.

Ten minutes into the drive, she deposits the empty cup into his car’s holder and finally turns to him, clearing her throat as she speaks. “Good morning, Scott. Thanks for the coffee,” 

The roads are bare because no sane person is awake and driving around little Ilderton on the 1st of January, so he turns to face her and flashes her a dazzling smile. “Good Morning, T.”

* * *

He finishes warming up by the boards, leaning against them as he takes off his skate guards, and glides out onto the ice. He strokes a couple of laps as he waits for Tessa to finish tying up her skates, watching her do so with precision. His gaze slips over her: her hair, soft and dark and thick, held away from her face in a low ponytail; her hips and muscles—elegant arches under a black mesh bodysuit with cutouts that should be called inappropriate, to say the least. She hobbles in on her borrowed white skates and tentatively steps onto the ice. Holding on to the boards, she tries to propel herself forward on her own, too proud to ask for his help but Scott, ever the gentleman, hovers behind her just in case and for good reason too because the second she let’s go of boards, she falls flat on her bum.

“I hate you,” she hisses, still sat on the ice as he howls with laughter behind her.

“You don’t. Come on, let’s try again. I’ll hold your hand this time, promise I won’t let you fall.” He chuckles as he lifts her up.

“I wish I did!” And with that, she strokes away back to the boards to gather her bearings, holding on to his hand tightly.

Over the next hour and a whopping three near-falls later, Scott has Tessa gliding across the ice and bending her knees for speed like she's been skating all her life, but he knows in his heart that her muscle memory is kicking in. She’s a quick learner with the grace and poise of a dancer but every so often he has to remind her about her arms or to straighten her back as he would to his students. The playlist in the background switches to Sam Smith’s Latch and Scott pulls Tessa into a dance hold, leading her around the ice in a mesmerizing pattern, dipping her down low and hefting her up into simple lifts. He has to remind himself that she used to be a ballerina and that’s why she’s so pliant under his hands. Her form is strong and he barely has to do any work to lift her because she has impeccable balance and holds her core tight.

They’re both breathing hard from the effort and their faces are flushed scarlet but she smiles when she catches his gaze and Scott’s heart constricts. It’s easy to find comfort in her arms, like the sense of belonging he felt at the ripe age of nine all those years ago. It’s exhilarating to feel like that again so Scott never wants to stop. He doesn’t want to stop skating with Tessa, he wants to keep gliding with her, pulling her around the ice and carving a story into it. Their story. He wants to tell her he knows her, wants to see if she remembers him. He wants to kiss her. Their foreheads are touching and their breaths are mingling well after they’ve halted at center ice.

“You’re such a great coach, Scott! I used to skate when I was little before I joined the Ballet. At this rink too.” She breaks their trance, shuffles out of his hold and skates away from him.

 _I know_ , he wants to say. _I skated with you and you were phenomenal. You were the little girl who came into my life and held my hand and changed skating for me. I’ve been waiting for you all my life but I’ve made such a mess of things with your sister._

But instead, he asks her why she stopped skating in a calm, collected tone of voice, stroking forward to catch up with her.

“I was offered a place at the National Ballet and as a little girl, it was my dream come true. I loved it but the work came with its downsides. Scheduled meals, scheduled workouts, scheduled therapy sessions. The other girls were mean and degrading and when I finally got over that and built up my confidence and character, I ended up with Compartment Syndrome. Too much pressure in my shins, the pain was excruciating, Scott. Worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life, there was a point where I could barely walk a few steps to the bathroom. Anyway, I had to have surgery and for that, I had to give up my prima ballerina position in that year’s Giselle production. But I came back and I was okay for another maybe two years till it started again. I underwent surgery a second time but I couldn’t come back,” her voice cracks.

“So then I retired at 24 and joined university where all my classmates are so much younger than I. It’s an adjustment but since I’ve always been away from home, it isn’t so hard. Mom and Jordan were my biggest supporters through it all, even when I was at my lowest and said some nasty things— Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry I’m boring you with my sad life story.” She says.

Scott is left speechless. You could never tell just by looking at Tessa how much she’d been through. He wants to press her for more details, he wants to know everything about her. He thinks he could listen to her voice for forever, he could look into those gorgeous green eyes of hers for forever; he’d happily drown in them if she’d let him. He tells her about his childhood then. That this is family rink and that he coaches here some evenings to help his aunt and cousin. She asks about his family and he knows she catches the slight cringe that his face contorts into.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to pry. Mum told me you weren’t close with any of your family anymore and I just ran my mouth, how incredibly rude of me,” she flushes red and now he really wants to kiss her.

After reassuring her, Scott tells her all about his nieces and nephews, and their latest shenanigans, showing her pictures and videos which she giggles at. He tells her about his younger self skating at this rink that used to be his backyard.

“I would just skate as fast as I could. I didn’t care who was around me and didn’t really listen to the program assistants. My mom and my aunt were in charge and I think I knew that I could get away with a lot.” He reminisces.

She smiles at the thought and they stroke a few more lazy laps around the perimeter before Tessa’s stomach rumbles. They skip over to a coffee shop and bond some more over hot chocolate and pastries before he offers to drive her home. "Yes, please. You drove me to the rink, remember?" she remarks and Scott blushes profusely over his own slip.

The startling realization hits Scott after he drops Tessa off at her London house (she told him she'd bought it after her second surgery on a whim) and she flashes him a dazzling grin as she skips down her driveway, snowflakes littering her hair as she goes, making him promise to take her skating again sometime. He simply watches her and waves till she shuts her door and then he promptly drops his head onto the driving wheel, letting out a defeated sigh. He’s fallen in love with her.

When he gets home, Scott face-plants on his bed and sleeps for two hours without moving, a soft smile decorating his face and the lyrics of Latch serenading him in his dreams. He only wakes up when his phone rings late at night and he rushes to pick it up. It’s Kate and she wants him over to the hospital immediately because Jordan’s woken up. He gives her a monotonous reply and then rolls onto his back and stares at his damp ceiling as dread washes over him. This is the end of his facade. With no family and few friends, Scott had become so captivated with the quirky Virtues and their unconditional love for him that he couldn’t bring himself to hurt them by revealing the fact that Jordan does not even know him, let alone is engaged to him. But now… What will Kate think? How will he explain himself now? But the thought that strikes him deep in his chest is that how will Tessa react when she figures out he’s been lying to her this whole time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a sucker for Latch.  
> I still have no idea what I'm doing so please leave a kudos or drop me a comment, letting me know what you think.
> 
> Don't be shy, come say hi at my ko-fi [Fey](http://ko-fi.com/feyruh)
> 
> Come yell at me on twitter if you'd like, [@ExcuseMeMsTessa](https://twitter.com/ExcuseMeMsTessa)  
> Thank you for reading!


	7. Six: This Is Where He Is Conflicted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay, I can only apologize over and over but I was sick and then I was traveling and then I had some nasty writer's block. Forgive me 
> 
> I also apologize for the emotional rollercoaster that is this chapter and the even bigger emotional rollercoaster that is the next. 
> 
> I haven't edited as much as I would have liked so I apologize for the mistakes.
> 
> Enjoy!

All the Virtues crowd around Jordan’s hospital when she comes to, nervous chatter passing round.

“Jordan. Your family’s here, honey.”Kate says softly so as to not startle her. The new awake Jordan looks carefully at each of her family, smiling at her mother and brothers and nodding at her father.

“Wh-Who are you?” She says in her raspy voice, looking directly at Scott and giving him ascrutinizing once over. Everyone turns to him in shock and then back to her.

"My god. She’s got amnesia,” gasps Kate and Jim brings his hand to his forehead as he shakes his head in disbelief.

“Lacunar amnesia is a condition in which memory loss…is localized and patchy, limited to isolated events.” Dr. Rubin provides. “We should’ve seen this coming but it can be very hard to tell with CT scans. She’s most likely forgotten recent occurrences but they’ll come back to her in no time.” He pats Scott’s back reassuringly.

“Selective amnesia?” _Just my luck,_ Scott thinks to himself.

Casey shoves his way to the head side of the bed. “What’s your birth date, Jo?”

“9th, October 1986,” her response is immediate.

“Who’s this?” He hefts his daughter up by her armpits and waves Poppy in front of her aunt who flashes her a toothy grin.

“Pops! You’ve gotten so big, sweets.” She weakly croons at her niece and makes grabby hands.

“Where did you go to university?” Tessa pipes up from the foot of the bed where she’s standing next to Scott. He can feel nervous energy radiating off her, she’s so agitated that she hadn’t bothered to look at him since he’d cautiously strolled into the hospital room ten minutes ago.

“Western and I had a 3.76 GPA. Nice to see you made it home for the holidays, Tessie.” Jordan smirks at her sister and transfers her questioning gaze over to him.

“Hey, you remember him? Look closely, Jo.” Kate quietly murmurs to her daughter.

“Should l? He looks a little familiar. Why?” She nods slowly.

“Jordan, you’re engaged him. It’s Scott!” Jim says.

Suddenly, Jordan turns pale, her skin ashen as she looks so befuddled and close to fainting that Dr. Rubin has to step in and usher everyone out.

“l think she’s had enough excitement for one evening, let her rest and we’ll get some real food into her in the morning.” He says drowsily, half asleep and cranky from a long work shift.

“Let’s all go home. Tessa, you too. Come on. On your feet, Poppy.” Jim hollers with authority and everyone listens diligently making their way out and waving to Jordan’s heavily sleepy form.

Scott slips out of the room quietly, stalling at the back of the group and intercedes Jordan’s lovely sister-in-law in the bustling corridor of the recovery ward by yanking on Myla’s sleeve to get her attention. He sits her down on the cheap, plastic benches and broaches her the topic.

“Myla, you gotta help me. You gotta tell them the truth. ” He pleads.

“Um, I don’t know if I—“ She must’ve seen the desperation tainting his eyes and wearing down his expression. “—I’ll handle it, don’t worry Scott, I’ll tell them.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He kisses both her cheeks and hugs her tight, feeling relief flood his system.

“But there is another option.” He doesn’t like her tone.

“Scott, see the thing is… You’re Jordan's guardian angel. You saved her even without knowing her and you’ve brought her entire family together for the first time in years. Do you know how courageous and selfless that is? I want you to do yourself a favor for once and think about the fact that you’ve been given this one chance to get it right. You love her and you love her family so just do it. Propose to her and marry her before you lose her. Look deeply into her eyes, and confess your feelings. You’re a romantic at heart, Scott, it can’t be that hard.”

When he hesitates, she pats him gently on the shoulder and tells him to think about it as she walks off.

* * *

Marie and Patch had invited him over for dinner and a skate that night so while he strolls through a fresh powdering of snow to their place, he thinks hard about Myla’s proposal idea. It would be adding to the clutter of lies he’s been telling ever since Christmas and he feels like it's bad energy to start the new year off with. After dinner, he has his first brilliant idea in a good while and talks to Marie about his situation.

“I'm having a conflict. l like Tessa.” he huffs into the night air as he waits for the alcohol to warm up his insides.

“Who's Tessa?” asks Marie-France who’s wrestling a fussy Billie-Rose into a puffer jacket.

“Jordan’s sister.”

“And so?”

“So she thinks I'm engaged.” He bemoans grabbing his beanie and pulling it over his eyes in frustration.

“To who?” She sighs, having given up on Billie-Rose completely and not paying attention to what Scott is saying.

“To Jordan. She woke up this morning.”

“Scott, l really don't have time for this.” Marie-France sighs again for the nth time, waving at her Patch to come over and handle their daughter.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no. You have to tell me what to do.” _That’s way too many no’s._

“Tell the truth.” Marie deadpans, looking right at him.

“If l tell Tess that l lied to her family, she will never speak to me again. Or Kate and Myla and Poppy—“

“Ma Cherie, you’re born into a family, you do not join them like you do the Marines. You have to tell them the truth.” She rationalizes, ever the voice of reason. He could always trust her to guide him but this colossal mess he’d created, there was no way out of it but the painful way. “Go home, you’ve had a long day. We’ll talk about this again soon, I promise.”

* * *

Scott joins Jim and Kate in the morning on the way to Jordan’s new recovery room which is a little more brighter and a little more whiter. They ask for Jim and Kate to fill out some forms before they can enter the room and so Scott is left to peek shyly into Jordan’s room. She’s sipping on some soup and talking excitedly to an animated Tessa who has her back to him. 

“Tell me about Scott, what’s he like?”

“What is he like? Well, I'd say that he gets under your skin as soon as you meet him. He has a terribly short temper and he drives you so nuts you don’t know whether to hug him or choke him.” Tessa pauses her description, as though she senses him standing just outside the door, and so does his heart.

He lets out a sigh of relief when she continues. “He has the biggest heart, volunteers at his aunt’s rink to coach and he’s great with children, I mean, you’ve seen him with Poppy.”

Jordan swallows another mouth full of the sludge-colored concoction in front of her as she answers her sister’s whimsical tone. “He must be special, and I guess I have the rest of my life to find out why, eh?”

“He’s lucky to marry you, Jo. And you’re lucky to have him as well.” Tessa exhales.

Hearing Tessa say all these wonderfully sweet things about him makes Scott feel even worse about this conundrum and his conflicted feelings make his inside curdle like milk with lemon. His skin crawls and his stomach drops when he meets Jordan’s wandering gaze, her striking eyes mirroring her sister’s. She waves him in and he smiles as he enters, holding a couple of balloons and get well soon cards that Poppy had made.

“I was just giving you guys some privacy,” Nurse Violet and Dr. Rubin are already there checking on her vitals and hooking her up to a saline solution to make up for lost fluids. Tessa stands up abruptly and turns beetroot red when she sees him, shuffling haphazardly as she cites the need for coffee and snacks and she walks out leaving the supposed couple alone, permitting a strange silence settles and Scott feels an uncomfortable itch to fill it.

“So, uh, how’re you feeling? Would you like a sandwich?” he offers.

“No, no. I'm okay.l wish l had my own clothes, though.” She replies picking at the hideous hospital gown.

“Well, l like your, um, blue trench coat.”

“The one with the golden button sleeves?” Jordan perks up.

“Yeah,” he nods a tad too enthusiastically.

“Yeah, that’s my favorite too.” She sighs, far away.

“Auntie Jo!” Poppy screams running onto the bed and saves the day.

Everyone comes in behind the little girl and he nods to Myla before he stands up and clears his throat so he can capture their attention. He has to do this now before Tessa comes back- before he looks into her glimmering emerald eyes which will most likely melt his resolve.

“I have something I need to say,” his voice wavers a little so he clears his throat again before continuing.

“Jordan, I know you don’t remember much of our relationship but I can tell you that in these few months, you’ve made me so happy. You brighten my mornings and fill my nights with uh— you’ve filled my life with so much happiness. You’ve always uh, supported me and stood by me and so—“ Jordan’s face had morphed from shocked to quizzical to squeamish throughout his improvised speech. “— and so will you make me the luckiest man alive, again, will you marry me?” He kneels down with his mom’s ring held out. He hopes that it doesn’t slip from his sweaty grip and holds his breath along with everyone else as they wait tensely for Jordan’s answer.

* * *

 

Tessa hobbles back into the room, a cheap, steaming cup of coffee held in one hand and a cookie in the other, at the most opportune time. She is greeted by the sight of Scott kneeling by her sister’s bedside and sliding a gorgeous engagement ring onto her finger as she accepts his marriage proposal. Tessa's heart speeds up to a dangerous tempo in her chest and her arms begin to shake so violently that some of her americano spills over the edge of the styrofoam cup, burning her fingers as it splashes to the floor.

“You were there when l needed someone the most. You gave me a second chance at life. My family loves you, l might as well love you. Scott Patrick Moir, I will marry you.” Jordan articulates and Tessa feels something twist painfully inside her.

“Oh, that’s simply wonderful!” Violet shrieks from behind them, startling everyone.

“You can have the wedding here, we do it all the time! We have a nurse who’s a certified pastor and we can get flowers from the gift shop in the maternal wing and— Oh! It’s going to be so magical!” she goes on babbling about instant wedding plans and all the women join in. All except Tessa who has her eyes trained on Scott, and she can see that the smile he wears does not reach his eyes like it did yesterday at the rink. The laugh he laughs does not come from deep within when he is bubbling with glee like he did yesterday when he swung her around the ice. She watches the man she loves struggle with his feelings just as she struggles with her own, turmoil storming about relentlessly in their heads and within their hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought about the chapter, Once again, I'm so sorry for the delay.
> 
> Leave a kudos, drop me a comment!
> 
> Don't be shy, come say hi at my ko-fi [Fey](http://ko-fi.com/feyruh)
> 
> Come yell at me on twitter if you'd like, [@ExcuseMeMsTessa](https://twitter.com/ExcuseMeMsTessa)  
> Thank you for reading!


	8. Seven: This Is When They Make A Mistake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is anyone still there?
> 
> Sorry about the delay, just hit with a terrible week and writer's block. This is sort of a filler chapter and I've taken so many liberties with the film, I almost feel bad.  
> I hope you enjoy, dear reader!

The party at Andrew’s place is as fun as it can be for a lonely, yet newly engaged Scott who has downed a lot of diluted jello shots that were being passed around in clear plastic cups. The lights were purposefully dimmed and terrible music blared from the speaker system Scott had helped set up when his friend had moved in. Standing in the corner and brooding, people kept bumping into him, some of which he recognized from work. He wasn’t drunk though, just a little buzzed but sober enough to know that it was Tessa who had just walked through the front door that he kept staring at wistfully.

“Tess? What are you doing here?” He walks over to her after she’d released herself from Kaitlyn’s tackle, slightly unsteady on his feet and hands her a blue shot.

“Kaitlyn’s my friend, she invited me. What are you doing here?” She doesn’t meet his eyes, choosing to study the shot he’d just handed her warily.

“I work with them at the station,” he says plainly into the awkward tension-filled space between them.

“So Jordan’s awake now and you’re getting married, you must be relieved” Tessa nervously tucks a strand of hair behind her ear as she’s jostled around between drunk, rowdy partiers. He grabs her hand and pulls her through the crowd into the balcony, partly because he can't hear her and partly because he wants to get a better look at her. In the white light of the shy winter moon, she looks exceptionally beautiful— she’s wearing a light face of makeup except for her lips that are painted with lipstick redder than wine. He wonders if they’d be as sweet to taste.

His expression softens in concern as gently warms her hands between his, rubbing tenderly at the calluses that mar her palms. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.” She pulls her hands out of his warm hold.

“Come on, Tess. Tell me what’s bothering you. You shouldn’t be here, you should be with your family, with your sister.”

“Trust me, Scott, they don’t want me there. Jordan’s awake now and very soon everything will return to normal.” She still doesn’t look at him when she speaks.

Scott brings his hands to rest firmly on her shoulders to get her to look at him. His heart aches at the hint of tears that have started to form in her eyes. “It’s not like that, T. You know—“ he has to stop because she wrenches out of his hold, vibrating with anger.

“What do you know about my family? Spending a week with them does not make you an expert.” She pokes his arm, struggling to articulate her sentences due to the emotion that’s crawling up her throat.

“Spending a lifetime with them hasn’t made you one either.” He says boldly stepping into her space.

“Yeah, well, l know that keeping your family happy gets complicated.” Tessa scoffs, her voice climbing one octave. “Would your mother be happy knowing you’re sitting in a token booth, isolating yourself from your remaining family because you’re too scared?”

“No, she wouldn’t. You’re right. But you have no idea what it’s like to be alone.” he snarls at her and immediately wants to take it back.

“Hey, you have Jordan.” Her expression softens and a look of guilt befalls her otherwise gorgeous features— she genuinely looks as though she regrets everything she’s said to him.

“l don’t have anybody.” Scott sighs brokenly and Tessa’s arms come up to wind around his shoulders as she envelopes him in a hug. He leans into her touch with a low rumble of pleasure stemming deep in his chest.

“You have me,” she whispers into his ear and he shivers. “You’re the only friend I’ve had in such a long time, apart from Jordan and Mom. I’m sorry about everything I said. I’m so sorry,”

Tessa pulls away slightly to look into his eyes and ask for his forgiveness once more but before the voice in his head can talk him out of it, he kisses her and she doesn’t pull away. Tessa’s lips are warm; they mold against his mouth as if they’d been made to fit each other. He drowns in her arms, she simply engulfs him and surrounds him and he feels like he should suffocate but all he feels is peace. He pulls back after a moment, dazed, and they’re both breathing hard, forehead to forehead, noses brushing, breathes mingling. Scott wants more. More of her.

“Hey, Tess?” He whispers, his breath clouding between them.

“Yeah?” she pants.

“Can you give me any reason why l shouldn’t marry your sister?”

He can feel his heart pounding in his throat and his ears ring. Tessa looks like she's about to cry and he can't bear it. She pulls away then, her arms slide off his shoulders and she takes a step back. “I can’t,” she croaks and his heart shatters.

“I underwent surgery twice and every time the pain came back so I swallowed down the pain— ate it up, wore a dazzling smile and acted meek. It hurt so bad, Scott and all I had was Jordan. I couldn’t go to Mum— I couldn’t worry her any more than I already had. They way I’d been worrying her all my life. Jordan kept me sane and I— now I’m messing around with her fiancé the right before her wedding! I’m the worst sister, the worst maid of honor, I’m a despicable human. Jesus, Scott!”

He’s shaking his head before he can find the words, shaking it vehemently, because no. He wants to reassure her. He wants to hold her tight and will away all her worries but he can’t. 

“I’m sorry,” she says. “We can’t do this.” She spins on her heel and yanks the door open to flee from every bad decision she desperately wants to make, all of which involve him. Before she steps past the threshold, she turns to him and whispers through tears, barely able to speak because of the tightness in her throat. “I’m glad I met you, Scott. I hope you know that.” She says and then she walks away, the sound of her clicking heels resounding loudly in his ears over the blaring music in the back.

* * *

 

Scott finds himself at the Virtue household at an absurd hour of the night. His hand wavers at the doorbell and his vision permanently blurry from that pathetic amount of alcohol. He’s still a little buzzed but he knows better than to ring someone’s bell at three in the morning, even if it is to apologize to his fiancee’s sister for kissing her. How did his life become so complicated and twisted?

 _When you fed lies to an innocent family._ A dark, voice provides from the back of his mind. He doesn't like that voice very much, its the same one that's been beating him up for kissing Tessa the entire cold walk to her parent's house. His lips still tingle at the thought.

He deflates sullenly and is about to trudge away when the porch lights cast a soft glow onto the snowy driveway and the door he’d spent the last half hour staring at shuts with an indiscernible click behind him.

“Scott? What are you doing here? I thought you were Tessa.” Kate’s alert voice utters.

“I um…” He simply stands there like a gaping fish.

“Come sit by me and sip on some chamomile tea. It’ll make you feel better.” She says offering her mug and settling on the front steps as though the situation is a normal occurrence. They sit there in silence sharing the bitter tea that sobers him up a little and makes him all the more miserable. He opens and closes his mouth multiple times but with all his trying, Scott can’t seem to get any words out. He leans his head against Kate’s frail shoulder, and she gently cards her fingers through his hair, smoothing it out as his mother used to do.

“You know, I’ve known who you are for a long time.” She says and Scott goes stiff.

“You skated at that rink your mum and aunt ran, always wanting to go faster and faster. You even skated with Tessie for a bit.” Kate continues and his heartbeat slows down a little. He nods against her shoulder, unsure of his tongue and lets her reminisce.

“But I remember you from this one time your mother brought you down to the hospital for your vaccinations. I was about to have Tessa then and you’d just toddled over to me and smiled your cute little smile and then you just played with my bump till your mother found you. You didn't want to leave and it was just so precious." She chuckles.

"Point is, we’ve always dodged each other but now I’m happy that you’re joining our family. I’m glad Jordan found you, Scott. You’ve grown to be such a wonderful man. Your mother would be so proud of you.” Kate ends her monologue and for a second time that night Scott feels shame gnaw away at his being. Her words rock his mind, bending it in foreign ways that built up to mayhem.

He rushes to his feet and cites the need to get some rest because he has work errands to run, but really it’s because he can’t bear to look at Kate’s tranquil face. Memories of his mother and brothers and Tessa and skates and _Tessa_ mull over in his head, dizzying him to no end.

“Hold on just a second, let me give you the invites Jim had printed. You can hand them to your friends at work!” she hobbles back into the house and returns shortly with pretty, emblazoned envelopes that she hands to him, jubilantly kissing his cheek and sending him on his way.

 

* * *

“What’s this?” Marie-France gasps in shock as Scott slams a crumpled envelope on her desk at 8:10 am on a sluggish Monday morning.

“It's a wedding invitation.” He huffs.

“Wait a minute. This is your wedding invitation. Whom are we marrying?” she looks at him incredulously over the frame of her glasses.

“Jordan Virtue.” Her name doesn’t sit well on his tongue.

“The coma girl? Are you insane, Scott?” Marie’s voice exclaims hoarsely.

“Yes, Marie, I'm insane. Every day l go and l sit in a booth like a robot. l work every holiday, l go home to a cat and now I can marry this beautiful, successful woman and that makes me a raving lunatic!” Scott vomits all the thoughts he’s holed up in a deep dark corner of his brain for the past two weeks.

“The wedding is tomorrow, Scott.” Marie steels, her composure never breaking.

“l know it’s tomorrow, but you know what? l even wish it were yesterday. Because that would mean that today I would have a family to celebrate the start of the year with.” Scott collapses onto the plastic chair in her office and brings his shaky hands up to cover his face.

“What happened with the other girl? What happened with Tessa?” she gently pries his fingers away from his face and strokes his cheek. The motherly gesture has Scott tearing up inside. First Kate and now Marie…

“She didn’t want me.” He croaks brokenly.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do, Scott?” It sounds like her final attempt at arguing any further with him. 

“I don’t know,” he despairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you noticed the chapter count?
> 
> Leave a kudos, drop me a comment!
> 
> Don't be shy, come say hi at my ko-fi [Fey](http://ko-fi.com/feyruh)
> 
> Come yell at me on twitter if you'd like, [@ExcuseMeMsTessa](https://twitter.com/ExcuseMeMsTessa)  
> Thank you for reading!


	9. Eight: This Is Where He Makes The Right Decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is, the last chapter- it's been a long time coming. I really hope I did this AU justice and kept the essence of Tessa and Scott alive throughout.
> 
> Thank you so much for all your comments, kudos and support, I am eternally grateful.  
> Enjoy!

Scott can’t meet her eyes as she makes her way up the aisle. Or what functions as the aisle—a musty blue carpet rolled between the row of beds and a tall food tray that functions as a podium where a nurse with a buzz cut and blue scrubs stands stiffly, having wrapped a doctors white coat over his work wear for at least some semblance to a real wedding. Jordan looks beautiful; her lithe figure clad in a simple ivory-colored wedding dress that Kate procured and her long, espresso colored hair braided in a single thick plait, wrapped simply around her head in the form of a crown with tiny white flowers littered here and there. She was radiant, emanating golden warmth but the true beauty was the shy Maid of Honor glad in a short, knee-length dark green dress with a deep V, peeking shyly from behind her sister, rolling the intravenous stand carefully along the bumpy carpeted floor of the recovery ward as a 16-year-old with a fractured ankle plays the Bridal Chorus on his violin. It’s not perfect or extravagant but its pretty well put together for a last minute wedding at a hospital, one must admit.

Jordan comes to stand next to him, slightly out of breath from the bit of exertion. When she turns to face him, he looks upon her face and thinks about the first time he saw her, when she fell into the tracks and when he jumped into the face of imminent danger to save her. Then his eyes fall on the other fussy Virtue sister, who crouches down to adjust the bride’s dress and her tubes and all the while refuses to meet his gaze. When she straightens up, Tessa keeps her eyes pinned to the rings she fiddles with, wondering of a world where everything could be different.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join—“ the pastor starts.

“l object,” Scott says hurriedly, still looking behind Jordan’s shoulder at Tessa.

“l, l, l didn’t get to that part yet,” he stammers.

“l would have to object too.” Tessa braves and Jordan turns to face her, confusion deeply engraved into her features. The small room erupts into spontaneous disarray

“What about you?” the nurse slash pastor asks Jordan.

“Oh, I'm— I'm thinking,” she flusters and turns red with embarrassment. It’s a look no one’s ever seen on the calm, collected, menacing Jordan Virtue.

“What the hell is going on?” Jim stands up and demands.

“l am in love with your daughter.” Scott addresses Kate because she’s lighter on the eyes. 

“l know.” She smiles at him, visibly relaxing at his proclamation.

“Not that one. That one…” he points to Tessa who shyly looks to her feet.

“Tessa, what the hell did you do?” Casey thunders at his sister, standing up as he hands his daughter over to her mother. Myla looks sheepishly at Scott before tucking Poppy into her arms.

“She didn’t do anything. lt was me, it was all me.” Scott says.

“Um, do you remember that day at the hospital? Well, um, there was a little mix-up. Um, l saw Jordan get pushed onto the tracks, and, uh, l saved her life. But when l got to the hospital, they wouldn’t let me see her. So, um, the— someone told the doctor that l was her fiancé.” He looks at Nurse Violet, who hides behind her clipboard “Only, um— it's not true. l was never engaged to Jordan.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Kate whispers so that the small crowd of hospital staff members,acquaintances, colleagues, and close family members have to strain to hear her.

“Because l didn’t know how to tell you. We never even met until that day on the tracks. And, um, it’s just when we were in the hospital room, everything happened so fast. And l couldn't tell you the truth. And then l didn’t wanna tell you the truth because, um, the truth was that l fell in love with you. All of you.

“l went from being all alone to being a fiancé, a son, a brother and a friend. l might have saved your life on the tracks that day. But you know what?” He turns to Jordan once more, the green of her eyes darkening due to a mix of confusion and despair. “You really saved mine. You allowed me to be a part of your family, and l haven’t had that in a really long time. And l just didn’t want to let go of that. So even though it was just for a little while, l will love them always. I'm very sorry.” his voice breaks slightly towards the end of his explanation. The crestfallen looks on everyone’s faces; all he’s come to love so dearly.

A deathly silence settles over the ward and then- “Jordan Virtue is engaged to me! l object to this wedding.” A ragged looking man bursts in and proclaims, effectively ruining the mood.

“Well, get in line.” the pastor huffs just as Jordan squeals and sort of launches herself at the man as best she can with the dress and the tubes. “Mark! What are you—“

Scott doesn’t wait to hear the rest. He slips out then with the hubbub that surrounds Jordan’s actual fiancé, grabs his coat and turns his back on the family he made in such a short time. He glances at Tessa one last time, surprised to see her staring at him with tears glistening in her eyes. Her mouth opens in a silent protest, a quiet plea for him but he can’t cause her any more pain than he already has. His heart breaks one last time before he forces himself to walk away.

* * *

It’s a typical dull January morning, not many commuters are expected to pass through his booth so he lets himself doze off for a bit. He’s been uncharacteristically lethargic these past few days after the disaster of an almost wedding, partly from the guilt that’s been eating away at him and partly from the bitter sadness of nursing a broken heart.

“Last day, huh?” Andrew comes up behind him and pats him on the back, accompanied by a glowing Kaitlyn. Both of them have probably just gotten off their night shift. That means Marie and Patch are due to walk into work soon and Scott fully plans to dissolve into his chair as soon as his friends leave because the last thing he wants to do is face Marie-France after having left his resignation form on her desk this morning like a coward.

“Yeah,”

“We're gonna miss you, Scott,” Kaitlyn says. 

“I'm gonna miss you guys, too.” He replies.

“Oh, we’ll see each other.” Andrew chimes.

“Of course,”

“All right then, bye-bye.” They wave at him and skip away, linking their hands and basking in blissful happiness.

He’s closed his eyes for just one moment, head resting on his hands with his chin supported by the palms when he hears an odd clink. It’s a strange clatter, not like the usual jingle of the train token. He opens his eyes to see his grandmothers ring sitting in the tray, glinting lightly in the sparse sunlight. The ring he thought he’d never see again.

“Scott? l think you need to ask me a question.” Tessa says from behind the counter with the rest of the Virtues perched behind her shoulder, all with hopeful smiles adorning their faces.

“Get down on your knee, Scott. lt’s more romantic.” Kate tells him, motherly love shining in her eyes.

“Mom! He’s proposing! Let him do it,” Jordan admonishes, shuffling forward on her crutches and grinning at her sister and then at him.

“Can l come in there, please?” Tessa looks deep into his eyes as she asks.

“l can’t, not without a token.” He teases but immediately regrets doing so because of the anguish that passes over her face.

Not breaking his gaze, she slips a two dollar token into the booth and steps into his booth. He stands up and backs her up against the door of the small cubicle, his presence invading her senses and calming her erratic heart rate.

“Marry me, Tess?” he whispers. 

“Yeah,” But he’s already slipping the ring onto her finger, the ethereal emerald set in the silver band matching the gorgeous green of her eyes. If the ring represented his bad choices and hasty decisions before, now it represented his gratitude and his growth as a person. Scott sends a silent prayer up to God for his mother as he pulls his lady love closer to him.

“l love you.” She says as she nuzzles her cold nose against his. He loves her with every bit of his heart, mind, and body.

“l love you back.”  He brings their joint hands to rest on his heart, beating strong and steady in his chest and presses his lips to hers in a long kiss. She cups his face and pushes her fingers up into his hair, pulling the horrendous toque off and hums in content. 

There are whoops and shouts of triumph from the back where the Virtues, now also joined by Scott’s brothers are cheering them on which causes them to break apart. Scott’s eyes begin to water slightly at the sight of their families joined together and he turns back to Tessa with a questioning expression. 

“I called them up yesterday and asked them to join us this morning. Your brothers love you, Scott. As I love you,” she tells him, emotion thickening her voice. He smiles at her and pulls her in for another kiss, conveying the immense amount of gratitude and appreciation he has for her into the kiss. She smiles against his mouth and when he pulls away to gaze adoringly into her deep green orbs, he hugs her then, almost desperately, her laughing and crying at the same time and him tightening his arms around her and breathing out a sigh of relief he’d been holding ever since he realized who she was.

They both turn to watch their one, big family hugging each other and celebrating their joy. Myla gives him a knowing smirk before she is enveloped into a hug by Danny and Scott is grateful for the woman. He hugs his brothers and they exchange heartfelt apologies for the time they’ve lost and shake on promises to make up for it. Scott’s gaggle of nieces and nephews, whom he’s watched grow up over pictures and videos, crowd around him and shower him with hugs to his legs and sloppy kisses to his cheek. Quinn, who somewhat remembers him, shyly shuffles up to him, twisting her hands nervously.

“Hey Q,” He breathes as he bends down to her level. His niece looks up and smiles widely before winding her arms around his neck. “Hey, Uncle Scott,”

He feels Tessa grip his shoulders and gives them a squeeze, which grounds him and he’s even more grateful for this amazing woman.

Scott lets the families mingle for a bit and introduces Tessa to his by singing her endless praises until she turns beet red and smacks him to get him to stop. He catches Jordan hovering by the edge of the group smiling at the mild chaos and tentatively walks up to her.

“So I don’t think I ever apologized to you. I'm so sorry,” he says and hangs his head with what lingering shame remains.

Jordan promptly brushes him off and pulls him into a side hug, ruffling his hair as though he’s her little brother. “No hard feelings, Scotty. Just keep my baby sister happy.” Kate comes to stand by him as well and he repeats the same heartfelt apology to her and receives the same casual response.

“I’ll be very cross with you if you continue to apologize now. We can't help who we love, Scott and we all love you so much. You’re family, even more so than before.” She pulls him into her arms in a warm hug, the sweet smell of jasmine wafting from her peach cardigan. He parts from her with an easy smile and later when Jordan asks Scott when he fell in love with Tess, he tells her “It was while you were sleeping.”

* * *

They get married in the summer with Jordan all healed and up on her feet. It’s a small, intimate ceremony with all of Scott’s cousins and Tessa’s friends from college in a quaint Ilderton church. His brothers help him with his suit and Kate breezes by to knot his tie. 

The old, wrinkly pastor who married his parents turns to him and tells him to kiss his bride and Scott does so with exuberance, dipping his new wife down low and kissing her languidly as their friends and family root and cheer rowdily from the pews.

Kaitlyn and Andrew attend too, now having moved in together, they’ve left the transit authority and have opened a bakery together that’s taken off quite well. Marie and Patch bring little Billie-Rose along and the entire wedding party sees them off as they board their plane to Provence for their honeymoon.

His mother was right: Life doesn’t always turn out the way you plan, but the right person can give you the world.

Tessa and Scott live a happy life, full of love and joy. They have three daughters all of whom take after their parents’ passion and dedication, but that is another story.

 

 _ -/fin _ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was that. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I also hope this can be my little contribution to #takebackthetag
> 
> I might be taking a little break from writing because firstly, I am swamped with work and my semester starts soon so gotta regroup and refocus. 
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> Leave a kudos, drop me a comment!
> 
> Don't be shy, come say hi at my ko-fi [Fey](http://ko-fi.com/feyruh)
> 
> Come yell at me on twitter if you'd like, [@ExcuseMeMsTessa](https://twitter.com/ExcuseMeMsTessa)  
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
